27-07-2020

Domestic and International Film Production Makes Strong Restart in Hungary

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    Dune by Dennis Villeneuve Dune by Dennis Villeneuve Warner Bros.

    BUDAPEST: With two domestic feature films in shooting since June 2020, a Netflix production filming since mid-July and several domestic and international productions  set to start shooting, Hungarian film production is making a strong comeback after the pandemic lockdown.

    Half Way Home / Átjáróház, the sophomore feature by Isti Madarász, resumed filming in June 2020 after the halt of its production in February 2020. This fantasy/romance starring Péter Bárnai, Vivien Rujder and János Kulka is produced by FocusFox Studio, with the support of the Hungarian National Film Institute.

    Daddy and Other Wolves / Szia, Életem!, a comedy by Gábor Rohonyi co-directed by Csaba Vékes, is also in production. This film starring Szabolcs Thuróczy, Mór Pásztor-Várady, Patrícia Kovács and Csaba Vékes, is coproduced by Filmteam, Grund and Blue Duck Arts. The Hungarian National Film Institute is again supporting.

    Seven new Hungarian feature films are set for shooting in the autumn of 2020, according to the the Hungarian National Film Institute (https://nfi.hu/en/), while the number of international productions is expected to continue to increase after the lifting of the restrictions in May 2020.

    One of the international productions currently filming in Hungary since mid-July is the series Terra Vision, for which Netflix has been building sets in two studios at the NFI Mafilm studio complex in Fót. The unique medieval backlot set has been booked by a US production for the second half of July 2020, meanwhile there has been an increase in interest from several international and domestic productions for soundstages and backlots, according to the Hungarian National Film Institute.

    In April 2020 the government decided to expand NFI Mafilm with four new soundstages, as soundstages were booked up for the entire year in Hungary.

    Three big international productions will return to shoot at Origo Film Studio in 2020: Dune (produced by Legendary Entertainment and directed by Dennis Villeneuve), the TV thriller series The Banker’s Wife (produced by Amazon Studios and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter), and the Mélanie Laurent’s period drama The Nightingale (produced by Sony and starring Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning).

    The filming of the Showtime series Halo will resume at Korda Studio.

    “Now that the state of emergency has ended, restrictive measures have been eased and the travel restrictions are continually being lifted, special exemption can be granted for non-EU residents to enter Hungary without mandatory quarantine, international projects are being prepared, making it possible to restart production at full capacity”,  government commissioner Csaba Káel said.